Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Stock Holdings Decreased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,700 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Fortive Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $80.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.71. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.